In March 2023, 85,975 first-time asylum seekers, mainly Syrians and Afghans, applied for international protection in EU countries. This is according to the monthly asylum data published by Eurostat today. Compared with March 2022 (74,310), it represents a 16% increase. There were also 6,945 subsequent applicants, a 4% increase compared with March 2022 (6,690). In line with previous months, last March, Syrians were the largest group of people seeking asylum (9,660 first-time applicants). They were followed by Afghans (9,155), ahead of Venezuelans (6,415), Colombians (5,980), and Turks (5,615). Following Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, there was a “significant increase in Ukrainian first-time asylum applicants (from 2,105 in February 2022 to 12,190 in March 2022), but the numbers have been decreasing monthly down to 1,160 in March 2023. This is also because “people fleeing Ukraine benefit from temporary protection”.